


Pull Me Back from Things Divine

by Seokhani



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anxiety, Drinking, Drunken Confessions, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-15 22:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18082106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seokhani/pseuds/Seokhani
Summary: "Drunk Noctis thought that his secret drunken-dark-thoughts-time was, well, a secret. He thought he put on a convincing mask to his friends, hiding the oily tentacles of alarm that wrapped around his intoxicated mind. He would laugh and say something dumb, surfacing for a moment. There, they have no idea, he’d tell himself. Just a normal drunk guy. But Drunk Noctis underestimated his best friend. If he ever thought Prompto wasn’t paying attention, he was wrong."Noctis and Prompto get drunk in the Crow's Nest parking lot and Noctis has some feelings. Inspired by the Bastille song 'Glory.'





	Pull Me Back from Things Divine

Drunk Noctis liked to think about shit. Sober Noctis tended to forget about this, so after Buzzed Noctis finished giggling and tripping over his own feet, Drunk Noctis would settle in for the rest of the night. Even though his head swam, he’d often end up dredging up the thoughts that Sober Noctis was so good at locking away. It wasn’t always bad; sometimes he would come to satisfying conclusions to the things that worried him, even though he surely forgot some of the more intricate details come morning.  


But there were times, like this time in particular, where things were getting too deep. He could feel it, opening up in his brain like a pit. Dark thoughts would begin to swirl soon, uncertainty creeping in like a heavy fog. _Okay Noct,_ he thought to himself, _pull it together. Pay attention to what’s going on around you._ He rolled his head back and forth, remembering suddenly that he was laying against a curb. His head was propped up on the raised concrete, his body laying out on the warm asphalt of the Crow’s Nest parking lot. It felt nice against his back, a sharp contrast to the slightly chilly air above him. Why had Prompto wanted to lay out here? Oh, yeah, the stars.  


Beside him, the blonde was chattering about the sky. “It’s so nice to be able to see the stars for once. I never saw them much in Insomnia.” He lifted the bottle of vodka to his lips, taking a short swig. “Man, this shit is gross.”  


Noctis chuckled. “It’d be better if it was cold. It’s been in the trunk of the Regalia for… a while.” He turned his head (slowly, gods, how much of that bottle had he put away himself?) to face Prompto. “It’s better than that nasty beer that Iggy and Gladio are drinking.” As he said this, the boys heard a roar of laughter from inside the diner, where the other two were occupying a booth by the window. Noct smiled to himself; he was always glad when those two got to cut loose a little. He was grateful when Prompto had suggested they go outside, the unspoken agreement between them to give the older boys some time alone. None of them really got much of that anymore.  


He reached over to take the bottle from Prompto, wrapping his fingers around the glass. “We’ve really put a hurt on this vodka,” he said, sloshing the liquid around inside. He brought it to his lips and took another small swig. It felt like a bullet hitting his stomach, and he groaned, holding the bottle out in Prompto’s direction. “Take this away from me.”  


Prompto laughed and took it from him, setting it down between them. “You’re the one who reached over here for it, Your Highness.” Noctis smiled, looking back up at the sky. Prompto lifted his arms up above him, framing the sky in between his fingers. “Yeah Noct, I gotta tell ya, this is just like magic.” He let his arms drop to his sides again, resting on the pavement. He rolled his head to the left, taking in the profile of his dark-haired friend.  


Drunk Noctis thought that his secret drunken-dark-thoughts-time was, well, a secret. He thought he put on a convincing mask to his friends, hiding the oily tentacles of alarm that wrapped around his intoxicated mind. He would laugh and say something dumb, surfacing for a moment. _There, they have no idea,_ he’d tell himself. _Just a normal drunk guy._ But Drunk Noctis underestimated his best friend. If he ever thought Prompto wasn’t paying attention, he was wrong. Prompto saw everything, noticed everything. Every flash of emotion that crossed Noct’s face, every time his brow furrowed in frustration, every time he had a popcorn kernel stuck in the back of his teeth. Embarrassingly, hopelessly, completely, Prompto noticed everything.  


Needless to say, Drunk Noctis’ little habit was well-known to Prompto. He knew that as the night went on, Noct would grow quieter and quieter, directly proportional to the increasing noise in his head. Prom always did his best to kick it up a notch when he felt this shift, cracking extra jokes and making even more of a fool of himself than usual. It worked sometimes, breaking Noctis out of his funk and making him laugh again. Other times, it didn’t seem to help. He never knew exactly when it would work and when it wouldn’t, but he had a feeling that tonight would be the latter. One thing Prompto had never done, had never had the guts to do, was broach the subject. Maybe it was the vodka, or maybe it was the stars, but: “What are you thinking about, Noct?”  


He’d tried to keep his voice light and airy, but it came out sounding a lot more serious than he intended. He’d also meant to turn his head back and look at the sky, but his body didn’t respond and he just stared at his friend. For a moment, he thought Noctis wouldn’t answer, and his stomach turned. Prompto was just sucking in a breath to apologize when Noct started to speak.  


“Is it that obvious?” He chuckled a little, glancing over at Prompto. “Just the typical drunk stuff I guess. What kind of greasy food is going to stop me from having a hangover. Whether or not I’ve had enough to drink. What my place is in the universe and how long until the ever-growing darkness consumes me.” He tried to keep a straight face, but his lips turned up into a smile anyway.  


Prompto chuckled. That was at least somewhat of a straight answer. He looked back up to the stars. “Yeah that’s pretty typical.”  


Silence fell over the two as they stared up at the stars. Noctis sank back into his own head. _Of course Prompto knows. He knows me better than I know myself._ He clenched and unclenched his fist at the thought. There was one feeling that always cropped up for Drunk Noctis above all the others: his confusing, overwhelming, heart-clenching feelings for his best friend.  


Prompto was everything the prince wasn’t. He was outgoing, loud, free and easy with his feelings. He wasn’t afraid to cry, or laugh, or shout in excitement. Noctis always wanted to do those things. He felt like he had to be in control of his emotions at all times; anything short of that wasn’t befitting to royalty. He’d always admired these things about Prompto, but in the last few years, it had become more than that. He’d noticed the beautiful way Prompto’s eyes would light up when he saw something new. His heart warmed at the way Prom’s hair ended up ruffled after napping on the prince’s couch. Most of all, he had fallen hard for the blush that dusted the blonde’s freckled cheeks whenever Noctis gave him a compliment. Every time, he would look down, bashfully, and try to hide it, but Noctis always noticed. By the time he’d realized what it all meant, it was far too late. He snuck a glance at Prompto, looking back quickly before he could be caught. In his intoxicated state, he was momentarily sure that Prompto could hear his very loud and very overwhelming thoughts.  


He knew one day he’d have to tell Prompto. These feelings were growing rapidly, putting down deep roots in Noctis. The day was rapidly approaching when he’d have to make a fool of himself, ruin their friendship. And there was always the possibility that, even if Noctis kept his mouth shut, one day Prompto would figure it out on his own. He’d never look at Noctis the same way again if he knew he was in love with him. Noctis had considered the possibility that Prompto might feel the same way, but he couldn’t imagine tying Prompto down to a life that was unsure, a future unclear.  


Noctis felt lost among the stars. They seemed so far away, stretching out endlessly above him. Prompto seemed that far away too. He felt ashamed of that thought, how deeply it would hurt Prompto if he knew Noctis thought that. All Prompto ever wanted was to be there for the prince, to take his pain away. To think he was causing him pain? Imagining that kind of hurt in his best friend’s eyes caused his heart to hurt. He felt tears begin to prick his own eyes, and he sucked a deep breath of the cool night air through his nose. Noctis never wanted to hurt Prompto.

He wanted to take all his pain away.

He wanted to give Prompto as much hope as he gave Noctis. 

But that wasn’t his destiny. He knew this. It hung over him as surely as the stars did. Noctis had heard these grand words all his life: royalty, destiny, glory. He was meant for all these huge things but all he wanted, the only thing he’d ever wanted for himself, was the love of one boy.  


He felt a tear slide out of the corner of his eye at this, but luckily it was on the opposite side of Prompto, where he couldn’t see. He felt it slide down his temple and soak into his dark hair, as if it were never there. _Probably for the best, I’d hate for him to see. He’d ask. I know he would and I’m way too drunk and too weak to make something up._ It was all swirling now, and he felt himself falling out into the stars above. Suddenly they blurred, bright zig-zags of light colliding together. He dimly realized this was from the tears in his eyes. _He’d see right through me, just like always and I’d have to tell him the truth, it would all finally come spilling out and he’d know I’m in love with him and then that will be it, things will never be the same and this will be my last memory of the two of us together and this night is so beautiful and I’m lucky to have him beside me, even just for now, even though I know I’m going to lose him, and--_  


He felt Prompto’s warm hand close around his and it all stopped. It was as if the noise turned off in his head immediately, and he was left startled in its absence. He didn’t even realize he’d turned to look at Prompto until he felt another tear slide down across the bridge of his nose. Prompto looked back at him, smiling softly. “You started breathing fast, like you do sometimes when you get really wrapped up in your thoughts.” He ran his thumb over the back of Noct’s hand. Noctis noticed Prompto’s smile tremble a little, like it does when he’s trying his hardest to feign confidence. “What was it? What…” another tremble, this one stronger than the last, “What were you thinking about?”  


“You.” It slipped out before Noctis could really think about it. It was deeply the truth, and Prompto knew it. Noctis sat up, slowly, their hands still entwined. Prompto followed quickly, sitting up beside him. He looked up at his prince, unsure.  


Noctis looked down at the face below him, lit by the starlight and the neon lights of the diner. Prompto’s eyes twinkled with tears about to flow over, and his mouth hung open just a little. He didn’t know what to say, or do, and Noctis smiled. He squeezed Prompto’s hand and watched the slightest hint of pink rise up on his cheeks. Noctis brought his free hand up to Prompto’s face, dragging his thumb lightly over his cheekbone. All he needed to see was the hope that welled up in Prompto’s eyes, and Noctis closed the distance between them.  


Their lips moved together like they were always meant to be that way. Prompto wound his hands into Noctis’ dark hair, holding him close. Noctis felt the tears falling down his face, but they held a different meaning now than they did a moment ago. Both of them were drunk, and it wasn’t perfect, but this was all he needed. Prompto kissed him like he couldn’t breathe without him, sending sparks of affection to his core.  


They moved to get closer and they heard the clink of the nearly-empty vodka bottle falling over between them. Prompto giggled and Noctis pulled away to set the bottle on the curb. He looked up, grinning like an idiot. “I love you, Prompto.” He looked at the pavement, feeling more open than ever before in his life. He knew he was blushing and it was all out there now. All he could do was sit under these stars and wait.  


Prompto didn’t make him wait long. “I love you too, Noctis.” Noct felt a thin finger beneath his chin, lifting his head up. Prompto was smiling fully, no tremble now. “I hope you didn’t think for a second that I’d say anything but.”  


Noctis chuckled. “Maybe for just a second.” He ran his thumb over Prompto’s cheek again, thinking briefly that he could get used to that. Prompto rolled his eyes and closed the distance again, winding his arms around Noctis’ neck. 

  


\---------

  


“Iggy,” Gladio nudged his drunken companion with his foot beneath the booth. There were half a dozen empty beer glasses between them, and Ignis lifted his head groggily off the table.  


“What? Time to go?” He quickly straightened his glasses, trying to look serious, the sleep wrinkles and the line of drool across his cheek giving him away.  


The larger man chuckled and pointed his thumb over his shoulder, out the window. “Those two idiots finally figured it out.”  


Ignis sat up on his elbows and leaned closer to the window, trying to focus his fuzzy vision. “Well, it’s certainly about time.” He sat back heavily onto the bench, rattling the glasses on the table. “And it looks like all it took was one bottle of vodka.”  


Smirking, Gladio ran his foot lightly up Ignis’ calf. “Do you remember how drunk you had to be to tell me how you felt? You have no room to talk.”  


Rolling his eyes, Iggy slid out of the booth, wobbling once he was on his feet. “You must remember that you were quite the ragamuffin back then, and I was more than a bit concerned that you would, as they say, ‘kick my ass.’”  


Standing beside him, Gladio helped Ignis slip into his coat. “You know the funniest thing about you Iggy?” He paused, buttoning the front of his coat for him as Iggy leaned dangerously backwards, “You can be drunk enough to fall ass-over-teapot, but you still talk like a damn thesaurus.”  


Iggy turned to slosh his way out of the diner, calling out over his shoulder, “Ooh, big word for a big man!”  


Gladio shook his head, smiling widely.


End file.
